CottonConnect Addresses The Organic Seed Issue

Scarcity of good quality organic seeds is one of the major challenges faced by retailers today.

Scarcity of good quality organic seeds is one of the major challenges faced by retailers today.

CottonConnect aims to have enough good quality organic seed for over 55,000 acres in M.P. and Maharashtra by 2013 and in the process help thousands of organic cotton farmers in being self-sufficient through its 3 year Organic Seed Development Programme.

According to CottonConnect, scarcity of good quality organic seeds is one of the major challenges faced by retailers today. Since the demand for non GMO seeds is very low as compared to Bt seeds, private companies do not find it very lucrative to grow organic cotton seeds.

Sourcing good quality organic seeds from Agricultural Universities in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, CottonConnect is lending technical expertise in ensuring that the quality and integrity of the cotton is not compromised while its partners like Prathibha Syntex Pvt. Ltd. in Madhya Pradesh and Ecofarms Ltd. in Maharashtra are responsible for producing good quality organic seeds.

Philip Chamberlain, Head of Sustainable Business Development at C&A (which is also a CottonConnect partner) says, “Organic cotton is key to our commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture, and we felt it was important to support our supply chain partners with the availability of good quality organic seed, ultimately benefiting the organic cotton community at large.”

Over the next few years CottonConnect will try to reach out to as many private companies as possible in an effort to scale up the production of organic seeds in India.